This is an article by David Holdcraft
The problem of evil is one of the toughest questions a Christian can be asked by a skeptic. It is also one of the toughest issues that we struggle with in our hearts. Life is incredibly unfair. Where is God? Why does he not do something? Is God not good? Is God not all powerful? Does God not care?
Perhaps you thought this in regard to Haiti. “Why didn’t God prevent the earthquake and after shocks from destroying Haiti? It was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, why didn’t God stop it?”
In most of the books by the so called, New Atheists (Richard Dawkins, Richard Carrier, Christopher Hitches, Bart Ehrman, etc.), the problem of evil is usually used as a battering ram as they argue against the existence of God and the validity of Christianity.
In a world where terrorism, Darfur, AIDS, cancer, and natural disasters occur, do we have an answer to the problem of evil?While this newsletter cannot possibly tackle the problem of evil adequately in a few paragraphs I would like to make a few observations.
1. While the atheist loves to make evil the sole province of the Christian, evil is even a much more challenging problem for him. Why? For the atheist, evil is meaningless, has no redemptive purpose and can never be defeated. Evil just is. And without any kind of objective moral grid, the atheist cannot really say that Hitler was evil and Mother Theresa was good. Who says so? By whose criteria? Without an objective moral standard evil is simply subjective, up to the human mind to define.
2. There are two main categories of evil, moral evil and natural evil. Moral evil is the evil perpetrated by moral agents, us. Natural evil is the evil resulting from natural disasters.
3. For the Christian, we know that both kinds of evil had a beginning. Evil began when Adam and Eve made a free, but rebellious choice to disobey God. We know that evil has an end; Christ’s final victory as depicted in Revelation. We know that the potential for evil was necessary for us to have a free will otherwise we would be robots. We know that we actualized evil by choosing freely to disobey God (Genesis 3).
4. We know that the human race and all of creation has been impacted by sin (Romans 1, 2, 8 ) and so we live in a fallen world. We know that Christ came to deliver us from sin, death, evil and Satan by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. We know all this because God has defined morality objectively in natural law and in Scripture.
5. Finally, there are two main responses to evil: a philosophical response and an emotional response. We need to differentiate the two. We may be able to answer the problem of evil philosophically while still bothered by the problem of evil on an emotional response. A struggle with the latter does not invalidate the argument for the former. Could God have sufficient moral reasons to allow suffering in this world (suffering brings people to himself, he has created a world where natural laws operate in which he seldom intervenes, the existence of evil demonstrates how more glorious God’s righteousness is, etc.)?
In Luke 13:1-5 Jesus deals with the problem of evil. He was asked about some Galileans who were killed by Pilate. Jesus asked rhetorically whether these Galileans were more sinful than those not murdered? His answer? No. He then mentions 18 people in Jerusalem who were killed when a tower fell on them. Jesus again asks, were they more sinful than the others who lived in Jerusalem? Again he answers no. Just as the rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:43-48,), so evil befalls the good and the bad. Jesus concludes his point by warning his hearers of the most important issue. Unless they repent, they too will (eventually) perish. In fact, Jesus is saying, repent now while you can before some calamity takes your life and then it is too late to repent. Note, Jesus does not give a why for the calamities in Galilee or Jerusalem, instead he gives a general principle (evil is no respecter of persons) and he gives a warning (repent now!).
So what about Haiti? Did the earthquake and the death of over 200,000 happen due to a “pact with the Devil” that Haiti made over 200 years ago as Pat Robertson suggested? If we go back to Jesus’ words, in Luke 13, we would have to say no. Why does not God destroy New York City or San Francisco or anywhere sinners are found (Remember the condemnation of New Orleans’ destruction after the hurricane as God’s judgment?)? Undoubtedly, Haiti’s culture, religion (like VooDoo) and failed dictatorial governments have contributed significantly to their problems. But are they worse sinners than others? Again, Jesus would say no!
The catastrophe in Haiti was the result of both natural and moral evil. Due to natural laws at work in a fallen world earthquakes happen and people usually die as a consequence. And due to the failure of humans to build structures according to accepted building codes in earthquake prone areas due, in part, to the perpetual impoverishment of Haiti, a natural disaster was made disastrously worse. God does not usually prevent the consequences of human error and sin from occurring.
So what are the lessons from Haiti? First, while we may never know the exact “why” for most of the evils in our world we do know that we live in a fallen world where bad things happen. Second, we know that God is with us no matter what we may face. Paul was absolutely convinced that nothing in all creation could separate him from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8). Third, our message must be to repent now or something worse may happen. Fourth, we must be the hands of Christ. He has called us to meet the needs of those who hurt. The response of the church to the needs of the suffering Haitians is a tangible expression that God cares.
While there is much more that can be said, the principles discussed provide us with a good starting point. The problem of evil is real and demands an answer. We have answers in Scripture. Let’s use those answers to comfort, encourage and meet the needs of those who suffer.
Sincerely In Christ,
David Holdcraft
